What did Trump say about Joe Kent, the official who resigned over Iran?

A US counterterrorism official resigned on March 17 over

the Iran war, the first under President Donald Trump's 

administration.

"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," 

former US National Counterterrorism Center chief Joe Kent

said in a letter. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our country,

and it is clear that we started this war under pressure from Israel

and its powerful American lobby."

The ongoing war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on

Iran on February 28, has killed thousands.

Trump is scheduled to attend the third state funeral for soldiers 

killed in the conflict on March 18.

Trump has said Iran has been "totally defeated," but has not

given an end date for the war.

What did Trump say about Joe Kent's resignation?

Trump was asked for his reaction to Kent's resignation in the

Oval Office on March 17.

"I always thought he was weak on security," Trump said.

"I didn't know him very well, but I thought he was a pretty good 

guy. But when I read his statement,

I realized it was a good thing he left, because he said Iran was

not a threat. Iran was a threat."

Trump also acknowledged that others say Iran is not a threat,

but Trump called them "not smart people."

White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt also called Kent's

claim that Iran was not a threat a "false claim."

On March 18, a reporter asked Levitt why he hired Kent if

Trump thought Kent was weak on security.

Levitt said, "(Kent) has not been involved in the Presidential

Daily Brief for the last several months, he hasn't been seen

here in the White House for quite some time," according to

a White House pool report.

“And the President finds it deeply disappointing that, after

being given the opportunity to serve the American people in

this administration, he has resigned with a letter full of lies,

in which he accuses the President of the United States of

being controlled by a foreign power — which is both insulting

and ridiculous.”
Who is former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent?

Kent, whose full name is Joseph, is an Oregon native and a

graduate of Norwich University, where he studied strategic

defense analysis, according to his official biography.

He served in the U.S. military for 20 years and participated

in 11 combat missions — most of them in the Middle East.